Profile of The Ninth Day

The Ninth Day can be described as uplifting, contemplative, and emotional. The plot revolves around the human spirit, imprisonment or confinement, and hopes. The main genres are drama, foreign, and period. In approach, The Ninth Day is serious and realistic. It is set, at least in part, in a concentration camp. It takes place during World War 2.

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Summary

Noted German director Volker Schlondorff's (THE TIN DRUM) highly compelling THE NINTH DAY provides a...
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Noted German director Volker Schlondorff's (THE TIN DRUM) highly compelling THE NINTH DAY provides a unique examination of historical events that took place during the Holocaust. Interned at the Dachau concentration camp near Munich in 1942 for anti-Nazi activities, Henri Kremer (Ulrich Matthes), an influential Luxembourg priest, endures terrible hardships along with thousands of his clergymen. Mysteriously, Kremer is released and sent back home to his family in Luxembourg for nine days. Upon his return, the local up-and-coming SS chief, Gebhardt (August Diehl) charges Kremer with a difficult assignment: convince the Bishop of Luxembourg to sign an agreement with the Nazis, thereby providing an integral link between Hitler in Berlin and the Pope in the Vatican. These scenes between the young, eager Gebhardt and the older, stoic Kremer simmer with friction and meaningful import. The great challenge is that the Bishop, like Kremer, opposes Nazi racial doctrine. Failure to execute within nine days means a return to Dachau for Kremer and the endangerment of the lives of his family and fellow clergyman at the camp. However, while success provides assured safety for all those people, it also would represent the ultimate corruption of his own faith. Based loosely on the memoirs of Jean Bernard, a real Catholic priest, THE NINTH DAY is a complex and thought-provoking film.
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Users Reviews

What would you do if you were a priest released from the inferno temporarily to see your family -- and negotiate a collaboration with the Nazi occupiers? This heavy subject is gracefully handled, rather than doing it with weepiness or clunky...

What would you do if you were a priest released from the inferno temporarily to see your family -- and negotiate a collaboration with the Nazi occupiers? This heavy subject is gracefully handled, rather than doing it with weepiness or clunky obvious religious transcendence. A humanist agnostic will find the drama psychologically engrossing and valid, and religious persons might even find comfort and strength in the priest's always-human, but mostly dignified response to a situation truly born in hell. If you are looking for a thoughtful, quiet movie -- despite the atmosphere of violence lurking everywhere -- this will be quite worthwhile. Its aims are relatively modest, but it is a small gem of dramatic (and perhaps philosophic) satisfactions. The thoughtful director's interview is quite interesting and a fine complement to the movie.